FT SPECIAL REPORT

Responsible Business

Fresh startsWhy a leading lawfirm is offeringwork experienceto ex-offendersPage 3

Earning its keepGood works arenot necessarilya burden onbalance sheetsPage 4

Forever youngEmployers arerediscovering theadvantages ofhiring apprenticesPage 7

Honours sharedThe full list of 219Big Tick awardwinners bycategoryPage 10

Inside »

Good corporate citizens shineMany companies, however, insist on business cases for sustainability programmes Page 2

Tuesday July 8 2014 www.ft.com/reports | @ftreports

Local biasWhy servingcommunities isgood for businessand profitsPage 11

Illustration:James

Fryer

Slow progress ondiversity at workBusiness urged torethink recruitment

On FT.com »

2 FINANCIAL TIMES TUESDAY JULY 8 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES TUESDAY JULY 8 2014 3

Responsible Business Responsible Business

In the year after leavingprison, Andrew (not hisreal name) applied for 60jobs. On a couple ofoccasions when he wasrequired to reveal hiscriminal record atinterview stage, he says hewas escorted off thepremises.

His only sources ofsupport were his probationofficer and the localjobcentre, which alertedhim to the possibility of awork placement at theLondon office ofFreshfields BruckhausDeringer. The global lawfirm runs a workexperience schemeencouraging ex-offendersback into work.

“Prison is a horribleplace and I’d never want togo back, but there weretimes when I felt likethrowing in the towel,”says Andrew. “But then Iwent to Freshfields and didsome work experience.

“Three months later,they called and offered mea year-long apprenticeship.It’s like a dream.”

He is now three-quartersof the way through theapprenticeship, although toprevent him beingidentified he cannotdisclose the nature of hiswork.

Typically, more than halfof an international lawfirm’s employees are notlawyers but work inclerical, IT andadministration.

Clients – as Freshfieldsrefers to its workexperience staff – do nothave to reveal the detailsof criminal convictions,which are known only to ahandful of senior peoplewho run the programme.Andrew, who is 38, wouldonly say he has oneconviction and spentseveral years in prison.

“A law firm’s not thefirst place you’d look tofind an ex-offender,” saysJuliet Holden, theFreshfields executive incharge of corporateresponsibility. “The maintheme of this programmeis to raise aspirations andemployability.”

Since September 2011,Freshfields has offered 80placements and some 50per cent of this group had

“unspent convictions”,meaning they havecriminal convictions thatwill remain on their recordforever. The only type ofoffence barred byFreshfields is white-collarfraud, but all otheroffences are considered ona case-by-case basis.

“It would be a lottougher to get in ifsomeone’s record showedpersistent dishonesty or along career as an armedrobber,” says PhilipRichards, senior partnerand a champion of thescheme. “We don’t rule outviolence if there wasunusual provocation,

because we look at eachcase individually.”

The work experienceplacements include jobcoaching and support.“Clients” are given two- orfour-week placements, awork buddy and supportfrom job coaches after theplacement ends.

The programme, Readyfor Work, was devised inpartnership with Businessin the Community (BITC).When it started in 2001,the focus was on homelesspeople, because they werea more visible presence onthe streets of London, saysMr Richards.

“We ruled out animalsand fluffy kittens. At thattime, there were a lot morehomeless on the streets,”he says. “But when youlook at the causes of

homelessness and brokenlives, prison is right upthere with time in thearmed forces as a commondenominator.”

Mr Richards, who is onthe board of Ready forWork, says when the ideaof helping ex-offenderscame up, the firm’s firstconcern was about risk tostaff and it consulted withits insurance company andthe Law Society.

A process was developed,covering the screening ofclients through checkswith probation officers andhow to maintainconfidentiality and this hasled to staff feelingcomfortable and proud ofthe scheme, he says.

“Initially, we worriedthat some people who areto the right of GenghisKhan might be upset,” hesays.

“But, actually, people saythey feel great about it.Hopefully, other companieswill take it up because, ifwe can do it, anyone can.”

There is a businessbenefit, he says, in theform of boosting staffmorale and making thecompany stand out fromcompetitors.

Recruiting participantssuch as Andrew into full-time employment reducesstaff turnover and relatedcosts, saving Freshfieldsabout £115,000 a year.

However, very fewparticipants go on to full-time jobs with thecompany. At the sametime, there are widerbenefits to society, throughimproving participants’ jobprospects andemployability, with 43 percent entering employmentwithin a year of theirplacement and 83 per centsustaining employment forat least six months.

Employment can reducethe likelihood ofreoffending by up to 50 percent, according to datafrom BITC.

Freshfields was the firstto sign up to BITC’s Banthe Box campaign, inwhich companies removethe tick box asking aboutconvictions from some jobapplication forms.

Information aboutunspent criminalconvictions only has to bedisclosed once a job offeris made. A further 15companies have signed up.

“You’ve got to havepassion and belief for thisto work,” says Ms Holden.

She adds that those onwork experience haveshown a willingness towork hard, and that theirdrive and determinationare clear to see.

Courage of convictionsas ex-offenders find jobsCase studyFreshfields BruckhausDeringer

Work experienceoffers fresh chance.By Sharmila Devi

Hiring: Freshfield’s offices inLondon

As economists make guarded state-ments to the effect that the worstof the financial crisis may beover, a public debate is underway over who is benefiting most

from the global economic recovery.Inequality has become this year’s talking

point, propelling Thomas Piketty’s Capitalin the Twenty-First Century into the NewYork Times best-seller list. The book’s find-ings have been used in many arguments,including an unexpected reference byshareholder activist Carl Icahn in his criti-cism of executive pay at Coca-Cola.

There are signs that the financial crisis,which did so much damage to corporatereputations and balance sheets, put corpo-rate social responsibility (CSR) on the backburner.

But think-tanks say that Mr Piketty’sbook, which argues that governments mustact to address the widening gap betweenrich and poor, could prompt a wider debateabout the way capitalism is structured, andlead to new commitments.

CSR has already entered into the main-stream. More than 85 per cent of the com-panies that make up the FTSE 100 arereporting on responsibility, and companiesare aware of the expectation that a pub-lished strategy should be in place.

Global plans have been made to formalisea definition of corporate responsibility,including the UN Global Compact, and gov-ernments have publicised the actions takenby domestic companies.

In the UK, David Cameron, the primeminister, appointed Philip Green, theformer chief executive of United Utilities,as an adviser on responsible business andset up an informal working group calledthe Open Business Forum to discuss waysto improve transparency.

In April, the government published itsresponse to a consultation on CSR as partof its Responsible Business Week, in whichit outlined ways businesses could contrib-ute to long-term sustainable growth. Thereport found that most companies weregoing beyond legal requirements to manageand enhance their economic, environmen-tal and societal impacts.

In spite of those findings, there are signsthat enthusiasm among governments is notbeing matched by companies.

A recent survey of more than 1,000 chiefexecutives by the UN Global Compact andAccenture, the consultancy, found that fewbusiness leaders believed that theircompany’s share price reflected its respon-

sible business initiatives. The number whothought initiatives would be very impor-tant to the success of their business hadfallen over the past few years to fewer thanhalf of those surveyed.

The mood is markedly different from theearly years of the new millennium, whenbusiness leaders gathered to discuss cli-mate change and ways in which marketscould reward sustainable behaviour.

Pre-crisis, advocates of CSR were encour-aging businesses to consider positive socialbehaviour as a virtuous cycle that wouldfeed into their corporate performance.Investing in communities would, the think-ing went, improve a company’s reputationwith its customers and the wider world,which would in turn attract better talentand so develop the business and eventuallythe wider economy.

The advent of the financial crisis andeconomic downturn has put pressure on amodel that makes it difficult for businessleaders to pin down shorter-term benefits.

“When the financial crisis first struck, itseemed like there was a window of opportu-nity for serious reflection on the wider pur-pose of business,” says Mallen Baker, anadviser on responsible business. “But thatwas shortlived, and the typical reaction torecession – to achieve growth at all costs –rather took over. The good news is that thefinancial crisis did not lessen the commit-ment by businesses on the whole.”

However, Peter Lacy, managing directorof strategy and sustainability services forAccenture in the Asia-Pacific region, saysbusinesses may have stalled in theiradvancement of sustainability.

“Chief executives see business caught ina cycle of ‘pilot paralysis’ – individual,small-scale projects, programmes and busi-ness units with an incremental impact onsustainability metrics,” he wrote in areport on the future of CSR.

Other organisations say the crisis hasfocused and streamlined the types of CSRbusiness leaders engage in.

The UK’s Charities Aid Foundation,which works with about 7,000 employers,including most of the FTSE 100 companies,says spending on responsible business haspicked up over the past few years, as hasinterest in special vehicles, such as fundsand bonds, used to give effectively.

Amy Clarke, head of advisory and con-sulting, says: “Since the depth of the eco-nomic downturn, we have seen increasinginterest in and appetite for the use of socialinvestment vehicles alongside more tradi-

tional philanthropic donations and grants.”“We find that companies are . . . more

strategic and want to maximise the impactof their philanthropic capital for a longerperiod of time. Put simply, they are lookingfor more bang for their bucks.”

If companies are struggling to make abusiness case for investment in certainschemes they can adopt a new approach,say analysts: sustainability.

Action to reduce packaging, cut electric-ity, water and fuel use not only helps theplanet, it can also cut costs.

Unilever announced last year it had cutits energy use and its operating costs by$395m since 2008, while Intel announced in2012 that its energy reduction produced$23m in annual costs savings since 2001.

CSR International, a London-based socialenterprise, believes investment in CSR willrise as a result of the crisis, as companiesthink more broadly about their actions.

Last year, it interviewed professionals

Enthusiasmmay wane ascompaniespursue growthCommitment The number of leaders who thinkCSR very important has fallen, writesElaineMoore

within the sector and found that morebelieved spending on CSR would increasethan thought it would decrease.

However it also discovered that mostmade a distinction between CSR thatfocused on philanthropy – such as dona-tions – and corporate sustainability pro-grammes.

The professionals predicted that CSR pro-grammes primarily focused on philan-thropy – such as sponsorship, donationsand charity volunteering – were likely tosuffer substantial cuts.

Corporate sustainability programmes, onthe other hand, which attempted to link thegood of the planet with profit, would gofrom strength to strength.

Business in the Community, a charitybacked by some of Britain’s biggest compa-nies, insists corporate engagement in CSRhas not dipped in the wake of the crisis.

“The expectation might have been thatbusiness would go into survival mode,”says Stephen Howard, chief executive.

“But this hasn’t been the case. What hasbeen remarkable, is how responsible busi-ness has responded to the challengingexternal environment and how the require-ment to do more with less, has driven anew understanding by businesses of itscontract with society.”

‘Companies want to maximisephilanthropic capital – theywant more bang for buck’

‘A flourishingmodern businessis responsible inspirit, attitudeand action.Profitability

and responsibilityare notincompatiblegoals, they gohand inhand. Whatis good forsociety isgood forbusiness.’

Mark PriceManaging director, Waitrose

‘In today’sunpredictableeconomy, theneed forresponsiblebusinesspractices iscritical. That iswhy a commitmentto highethicalstandardsand corevaluesunderpinseverythingwe do.’

Christine HodgsonExecutive chair, Capgemini

‘Business is an enginefor change. We arebumping up againstplanetary pressures,so responsiblebusiness is the onlystrategy to securingviability in the longterm.If business is

the heartbeatof oureconomy,responsiblebusinesskeeps itpumping.’

Ian CheshireChief executive, Kingfisher

Brian GroomBusiness andemployment editor

Elaine MooreCapital marketscorrespondent

Kaye WigginsSenior reporter, LocalGovernment Chronicle

Sharmila DeviFreelance journalist

Tim SmedleyFreelance journalist

Helen BarrettCommissioning editor

Andy MearsPicture editor

Steven BirdDesigner

For advertisingdetails, contact: JuliaWoolley,+44 (0) 7950 918864julia.woolley@ft.com,or your usual FTrepresentative.

All FT Reports areavailable on FT.comat ft.com/reportsFollow us on Twitterat: @ftreports

All editorial content inthis supplement isproduced by the FT.Our advertisers haveno influence over orprior sight of thearticles or onlinematerial.

Contributors »

‘We worried some[existing staff]might be upset, butpeople say they feelgreat about it.’

Illustration:James

Fryer

4 FINANCIAL TIMES TUESDAY JULY 8 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES TUESDAY JULY 8 2014 5

Responsible Business

There are plenty of storiesabout irresponsiblebusiness leaders, and manypeople expect poorstandards of behaviour.

Milton Friedman, a NobelPrize-winning economist,wrote in the 1970s that thepurpose of business was tomake as much money aspossible without breakingthe law.

We should not expectanything else from chiefexecutives – right?

So, why do we also seestories on business leaderstalking about socialproblems and placing valuefor wider society at theheart of their corporatestrategies?

After all, this kind ofthing might lead todistractions and risks, andeven end up adding tocosts.

But think of PaulPolman aiming to doublethe size of Unilever’sbusiness by inspiringsustainable living.Or Ian Cheshire focusingKingfisher on helpingpeople to live in better andmore sustainable homes.

And then there’s JustinKing putting values andprovenance at the centre ofhow J Sainsbury competeswith other retailers.

In the past few weeks,chief executives of eight ofthe 10 biggest food andbeverage companies havepublicly called for a strong,legally binding deal onglobal climate change.

Their actions cannot beexplained in terms of a fewwell-intentionedpersonalities.

Rather, they reflectfundamental shifts thathave taken place over theirgeneration.

Things have changedsince Prof Friedman madehis claim, which assumedthe responsibility fordealing with society’sproblems lay withgovernment.

The priority of businesswas to generate profit;societal issues were noneof its business.

Today, while it might notfeel like it for chiefexecutives, businesses havefar broader horizons andinfluence.

Some 40 years ago,the world’s biggest

economic entities werecountries. Today, a sizeablenumber are privatecompanies, according toGlobal Trends, theresearch company.

This has changed thebalance of power and

influence to the extent thatmany of today’s complexglobal challenges cannot bedealt with by governmentsalone. They needcollaborative leadershipfrom political leaders,business leaders andNGOs.

It is because businesshas this power andinfluence that itsfundamental legitimacy isthreatened if it does notuse it in the wider publicinterest.

The Friedman argumentdoes not work in aworld where business isglobal and government isnot.

This has fundamentallychanged the scope ofbusiness leaders’ roles.

It has thrust today’sbusiness leaders, whetherthey like it or not, intomore overtly political roles,nationally and globally.

The chief executivessticking their necks outare those embracing thisnew role, and learning howto play it well.

We have been following

them in a programme ofresearch at AshridgeBusiness School, learningwhat it takes to be asuccessful business leader.

Among other things, it isclear that today’s globalleaders need a nuancedunderstanding of themain societal forcesshaping our world, anda genuine personal passionfor running a profitablebusiness by servingthe interests of widersociety.

This is how you succeedin a changed world. Somehave noticed and othershave not.

Matthew Gitsham isdirector of the AshridgeCentre for Business andSustainability at AshridgeBusiness School

Today’s best bosses understand commerce’s social role

From policies on sustainable fishingand reducing carbon emissions, tocampaigns to encourage clothesdonations to Oxfam, Marks andSpencer widely promotes what it

calls “Plan A” – its company-wide socialresponsibility and sustainability pro-gramme.

But the UK retailer not only publicises itsplan, it also publishes annual data on itsbusiness impact. According to the com-pany’s own measure, Plan A placed a netfinancial burden of £40m on the companyin 2007-08, its first year. In 2008-09 it brokeeven and thereafter has produced a netbenefit annually that outstrips its first-yearcost. In 2013-14, the company says this gainreached £145m, up from £135m in 2012-13.

In the absence of formal accounting con-ventions on measuring the costs and bene-fits of corporate social responsibility (CSR),M&S has developed its own methods.

Based on Plan A reports, other busi-nesses might reasonably infer that effectiveCSR is a worthwhile investment. But notall CSR programmes are alike. The valueis often more complicated than what can bedemonstrated in financial terms, not leastbecause it is an unpredictable, long-terminvestment.

For example, a J Sainsbury programmeto check the origin of its meat products

started as part of a sustainability pro-gramme. “Ten or 15 years ago we investedin isotope testing,” explains John Rogers,chief financial officer at Sainsbury.

“That stood us in great stead when thehorse meat scandal broke, because we hadnone in our products.

“We couldn’t have produced that busi-ness case at the time of the investment, butit was evidently the right thing to do.”

Even M&S, with all its data, does notplace too much emphasis on the annualfinancial returns from CSR.

Adam Elman, head of global Plan A deliv-ery at M&S, says that it is about equippingthe business to deal with long-term chal-lenges, such as resource shortages, thatmay otherwise threaten its viability.

“There are a lot of benefits that we don’tmonetise,” he says. “These include supplychain resilience, staff motivation and thevalue of our brand in the long term.”

Manny Amadi, chief executive of busi-ness and society consultancy C & E Advi-sory, says that companies are increasinglyaware that the benefits of CSR are morenuanced than short-term results.

“Their logic is that you can’t createenduring value for shareholders unlessyou’re thinking about the world aroundyou,” he says.

In fact, much CSR is taking place with

little or no expectation of a direct financialreturn. The London Benchmarking Group(LBG), which measures companies’ invest-ments in the community, found nearly athird of community investment by UKmembers in 2013 took the form of charita-ble donations, which may improve compa-nies’ long-term standing in the public eyebut are unlikely to lead to subsequentboosts in revenues and profits.

Jon Lloyd, head of the LBG, says: “Com-panies still see the need, particularly whenresponding to emergency situations, to dothe right thing and make a contributionwithout expectation of a [financial] return.”

Even when companies do make the linkbetween CSR and financial returns, it doesnot always have a persuasive effect.

“Certain shareholders are particularlyinterested, but on the whole that level ofinterest is still not where we’d like it to be– it’s not top of their agenda,” says MrElman.

Management theorists have raised ques-tions about whether companies are reapingenough financial reward from their existingCSR work. According to Reputation Insti-tute, a New York-based consultancy, 73 percent of consumers would recommend com-panies recognised as achieving CSR aims.

But research published by the EuropeanCommission in 2013 found just that 36 per

cent of Europeans felt well-informed aboutcompanies’ responsible business plans.

“[Sainsbury’s is] quite low-key on some ofthe messages about our social responsibil-ity,” says Mr Rogers. “But you can getaccused of ‘greenwashing’, and the reasonfor doing the work shouldn’t be PR-based.”

As the links between CSR and financialreturns become increasingly complex, anew form of CSR is springing up that linksthe two inextricably.

Under “shared value” programmes, busi-nesses are using core skills to develop prod-ucts and services that bring both financialand societal benefit.

Barclays, for example, has invested £25min a “social innovation facility” that aimsto accelerate such projects. The bank wantsto enable contactless payment cards to beused for charitable donations – a move thatwould meet its business aim of encouragingcard take-up, while benefiting charities.

“From the perspective of the bottom line,these projects may not pay back for four,five, or even 10 years,” says Mark Thain,Barclays’ vice-president for social innova-tion.

“But I know that from a shareholderpoint of view, they are more interested inhow we will expand the business over 20years [through shared value work] than inhow much we’ve donated to charity.”

Making good workpay becomes nextbig imperative

Accounting Social investments thatmay not bringreturns for years are gaining ground. ByKayeWiggins Big catch: M&S funds a sustainable fishing project in Orkney

OpinionMATTHEW GITSHAM

MatthewGitsham:governmentsneed the helpof businessleaders

6 FINANCIAL TIMES TUESDAY JULY 8 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES TUESDAY JULY 8 2014 7

Responsible Business Responsible Business

Employers are often reluc-tant to hire young people,even though there are morethan 850,000 unemployed 16-to 24-year-olds and UK busi-nesses are struggling to fillone in five vacanciesbecause of skills shortages.

They are sceptical aboutyoung people’s skills andtheir readiness for work.But a growing number ofcompanies are setting upschemes to recruit youngworkers – and they can besurprised by the results.

“We were blown away bytheir dedication and atti-tudes,” says Sophie Brooks,a Marks and Spencer man-ager who runs a schemelaunched a year ago withthe Prince’s Trust charityto recruit 1,440 unemployedyoungsters annually andequip them for a career inretail.

“There have been youngpeople coming in at 4amjust to see the morningvehicle operation,” sheadds. “We have had themstaying way beyond theirshift to help with shop floormoves that were happeningthrough the night.”

Of the first year’s intake,more than 1,200 completedthe four-week scheme,which mixes work experi-ence with training in skillssuch as communication andteam work. More than 80per cent secured a job withM&S – a higher rate thanexpected.

The company says it ben-efits from lower recruit-ment costs and improvedmotivation from existingstaff, many of whom enjoybeing “buddies”, helpingthe trainees. “They lovedbeing involved with youngpeople and working along-side people they would oth-erwise probably never havemet,” Ms Brooks says.

A growing number ofcompanies including Nestlé,Barclays, Accenture, PwC,Gapgemini, O2, EE, Asdaand EDF Energy have intro-duced schemes to increase

young people’s employ-ment, whether throughapprenticeships, work expe-rience, traineeships or talk-ing to children in schools.

Katerina Rudiger, skillspolicy adviser at the Char-tered Institute of Personneland Development, says: “Inthe past couple of years, wehave seen a real shift inemployer behaviour to-wards young people, asthey wake up to the factthat a lot of their employeesare going to retire andthey need talent comingthrough.”

But, she adds: “We arejust at the start.” Ms Rudi-ger says more employersneed to adapt their hiringmethods. For instance, atinterviews they should askquestions aimed at drawingout candidates’ strengths –such as volunteering theymay have done – ratherthan professional competen-cies, since they may nothave work experience.

The new interest followsa long period when employ-ers ran down apprentice-ships, neglected school leav-ers and relied on graduaterecruitment schemes.

At the same time therewas a decline in starter-level and Saturday jobs, somany school leavers wereemerging from educationwith little idea of whatwork entailed.

The proportion of 16 to 24-year-olds not in employ-ment, education or traininghit 17 per cent in late 2011.That proportion has sincedeclined to 13.5 per cent,but that is still 975,000

young people (higher thanthe number of unemployedbecause some are notactively seeking work).

Despite this, the UK facesthe prospect of running outof people to do jobs.Employers’ plans suggest13.5m vacancies will arisein the next 10 years, accord-ing to the Department forWork and Pensions, butonly 7m young people willleave school and college.

“This is a business imper-ative,” says Fiona Kendrick,chief executive of NestléUK, the consumer goodsgroup, which has pledged tocreate 1,900 employmentopportunities for under-30sover three years. “We knowwe will have a big percent-age of our manufacturingworkforce retiring over thenext 15 years.”

Steve Holliday, chief exec-utive of National Grid, thegas and electricity networkcompany, is leading aproject called Careers Lab,aimed at bridging the gapbetween schools and workby sending employees ofbusinesses of all sizes intoclassrooms to delivercareers lessons alongsideteachers. Careers advicecan be a weak part of theeducation system, becauseteachers find it hard to keepup with the type of jobslikely to be available infuture.

Mr Holliday says: “We areco-ordinating these activi-ties because we passion-ately care about it, but alsofor a very serious businessreason. The energy and util-ity sector is going to lose

about 50 per cent of parts ofits workforce in the next 10years as people retire, so weneed a new generation.”

The scheme, which hasbeen piloted in the WestMidlands, will be rolled outto 600 schools by the char-ity Business in the Commu-nity. Companies such asAnglian Water, British Gas,SSE, Costain and Whitbreadhave signed up.

Barclays has so far hired1,400 young people in anapprenticeship schemelaunched two years agoaimed at the long-term job-less and those with fewerthan five GCSEs.

At first, one in 10 candi-dates made it through thehiring process, but the bankhas raised this to seven in10 by offering a pre-appren-ticeship programme toboost literacy, numeracyand employability.

Mike Thompson, Bar-clays’ director of earlycareers, says: “They arehungry and quick to learn,compared with a normalrecruit. “A lot have been upto two years’ unemployedand had almost given uphope of getting a job.”

Every year, one in four adults in theUK experiences mental healthproblems, and evidence suggeststhe problem is taking an increas-ing toll on businesses.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS)reported 15.2m days of sickness absenceacross the UK in 2013 caused by stress,anxiety or depression – significantly higherthan the 11.8m days lost in 2010. Theabsences are thought to cost UK employers£26bn a year.

However, the part played by employersand the working environments they pro-vide is only now becoming better under-stood. “It’s unfortunately quite commonthat people experience stigma and discrimi-nation,” says Sue Baker, director of Time toChange, a campaign run by Mind andRethink Mental Illness, the charities.

A survey by Time to Change found that44 per cent of people who had experiencedmental health problems had been stoppedfrom looking for or returning to workbecause of stigma and discrimination.

At Legal & General, the investment andinsurance company, Vanessa Sallows, bene-fits and governance director, acknowledgesthere are some “very demanding roles, par-ticularly in financial services”.

Her company like many others has seenan increase in mental health problemssince the recession, ranging from stress,anxiety, clinical depression and postnataldepression. “We also have individuals withbipolar disorder,” she says.

Helping employees to be frank aboutsuch problems is an important first step,and some companies are finding new waysto encourage such conversations.

At L&G, says Ms Sallows, a “Spot it tostop it” campaign tries to break the taboo.“We’d done Macmillan [the cancer charity]coffee mornings in the past and found themreally useful in getting people to talk aboutcancer,” she says. “We decided to do some-thing along the same lines, coffee morningsand sit-downs with staff to give them theopportunity to talk about mental health.”

Eon, the energy company, has piloted anapproach called “Head Sheds”. “We actu-ally set up garden sheds, even includingfake grass round them, in different loca-tions of our businesses,” says Fiona Stark,director of corporate affairs – health, safetyand environment. “People could go in, postcomments on the wall about how they werefeeling. It was an opportunity to start thatdiscussion. There were occupational healthpeople they could engage with and get afollow-up session for support.”

If a workplace is regarded as a supportive

environment, “then people will feel safe totalk”, says Ms Baker. “But it’s a bit like thechicken and the egg. The reason why peo-ple don’t talk is that they are worried aboutbeing judged, or seen as not a good invest-ment for a certain career path.”

To counter this, L&G trains its line man-agers to “identify when members of staffare experiencing problems and to feel com-fortable having that one-to-one conversa-tion”, says Ms Sallows. “Then, it is aboutgetting the right response for the rightsymptoms and helping individuals feel sup-ported and valued within the workplace.

“We have found that offering such thingsas cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)while trying to put individuals on a gradedreturn to work, is often far more effectivethan just signing them off for a number ofweeks.”

Having suffered from depression, AdamSpreadbury, a regulator at the Bank of Eng-land [see panel, right], believes that “withthe right levels of support, you can manageyour mental health condition in the sameway as a physical health condition”.

“For some people, work and keeping busyare actually a really important part of theirmental health.”

Employee assistance programmes (EAPs)are commonly offered by large and smallemployers, with helplines to offer advice toemployees on finance, relationships and –increasingly – mental health.

Other measures available include work-shops on mindfulness, mental healthawareness training, and promoting the“Five ways to wellbeing” health advice,namely: connect with family and friends,be physically active, take notice of theworld around you, keep learning newthings, and give generously.

None of this would work, however, with-out the right signals from senior leaders.“If you have high profile, senior executivescoming forward and saying ‘this has hap-pened to me’,” says Ms Sallows, “thatshows you can have a highly successfulcareer despite having suffered from mentalhealth problems.”

Mr Spreadbury, too, helped set up a panelevent at the Bank of England where seniorstaff talked openly about their own mentalhealth experiences.

But surely senior professionals attractthe salaries they do because they are men-tally strong and able to cope with pressure?

“No one is invincible or immune,” saysMs Baker. “Often people who ignore mentalhealth issues and never discuss them arenot the ‘stronger’ ones; it takes strength toconfront them and talk about them.”

Andy Buxton, health and wellbeing man-ager at National Grid, says he used take adetailed business case for health and well-being expenditure to the board, provingthat “for every pound spent on psychologi-cal rehabilitation processes we got back atleast two in returning people to workearly”.

“But now they just see it as the rightthing to do,” he says. To not do anythingwould be damaging to individual andemployer alike.

High cost ofmental healthproblems forcesemployers to act

Welfare Fromawareness campaigns to involvingsenior staff – ideas are being tested, saysTimSmedley

Pressure: some employers, however, encourage frankness about mental illness Gallery Stock

Between 2005 and 2009, I suffered frombouts of depression. The initial symptomswere lack of concentration. I lost energy andmy sleeping patterns were disrupted.Eventually, I went to my GP and had some

cognitive behavioural therapy-basedcounselling, arranged through the employeeassistance programme. But between six andnine months later, the pattern continued.Each time I thought I was getting better, Ikept falling back.By summer 2008, my psychiatrist decided

I should go on antidepressants. In November,I tried coming off them – four weeks later Iliterally fell over. This time it was physical,with suicidal thoughts. I couldn’t get out ofbed for two months.All along, my line manager was really

supportive. We had a lot of things going onat work, but I was never made to feel guilty.

He and my head of department helped me tophase my return to work, to build upconfidence again.Since then, I have stayed on

antidepressants which, along with therapy,have helped me to stay healthy.The environment at work is very important.

In 2012, I helped set up a mental healthnetwork at the bank. We try to normalisemental health. If you do struggle, it need notbe a long-term problem.People are often reluctant to talk to

someone that they know has a problem, incase they say the wrong thing. But it’s just acase of taking time to ask how they are. It’snot about trying to be a counsellor, it’ssimply being thoughtful.

Adam Spreadbury is a senior regulator at theBank of England.

Case study Adam Spreadbury

Companies make room for tomorrow’s talentYouth employment

Attitudes towardsrecruiting youngpeople are softening,writes Brian Groom

Employersfear youngadults arenot ready forwork and lackbasic skills

‘For every pound spent onpsychological rehabilitation,we got back at least two’

8 FINANCIAL TIMES TUESDAY JULY 8 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES TUESDAY JULY 8 2014 9

10 FINANCIAL TIMES TUESDAY JULY 8 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES TUESDAY JULY 8 2014 11

Responsible Business Responsible Business

The Big Ticks are the first level ofaccolade in Business in theCommunity’s annual ResponsibleBusiness awards. They are given tocompanies whose programmes arethe best examples of business as aforce for good.This year 219 entries have

received a new Big Tick and 11 havewon a CommunityMark award.The 59 Big Tick companies

marked with an asterisk wereshortlisted to be overall winners ineach category. The overall winnerswill be published in the FinancialTimes on July 9.For more about the methodology

behind the selection process, pleasego to www.ft.com/responsible-business-2014

Responsible Business AwardRecognises large businesses thathave adapted their strategies so thattheir products, services andemployees can build resilientcommunities and environmentallysustainable practices, and areinfluencing others to createconditions for long-term change.The winner will be BITC’sResponsible Business of the Year•EDF Energy*•Johnson Matthey*•National Grid*•Gentoo Group•Nationwide Building Society•Yorkshire Water Services

Santander Responsible SmallBusiness Award Recognises smalland medium-sized businessesdemonstrating a responsibleapproach to business incommunities, the environment, themarketplace and workplaces•Bettys & Taylors of Harrogate*•Handmade Alliance CIC*•Ipswich Building Society*•LSI Architects*•Moat Homes*•Novus Property Solutions*•K10•Logistik•Phoenix Gas

Unilever International AwardRecognises those making a positiveimpact on one or more of the UNmillennium development goals•Ferrovial*•Credit Suisse*•Glasgow Caledonian University*•GSK*•Marks and Spencer*•Tata Consultancy Services*•BASF SE•Agroamerica•Danone•Hogan Lovells•Mondelez International•Shared Interest Society

International Disaster ReliefAwardRecognises those carrying out reliefaction in the immediate aftermath ofdisasters•Bouygues UK*•BT Group*•Pilipinas Shell PetroleumCorporation*

•UPS*•Allen & Overy

Asda Enterprise Growth AwardRecognises large businesses thatsupport small and medium ones toencourage local economic growth•Blakemore Fine Foods*

•Camden Town Unlimited*•Circle Housing Group*•Hogan Lovells*

Building Stronger CommunitiesAwardRecognises partnerships betweenbusinesses and communityorganisations to address socialproblems•Derwentside Homes*•Lloyds Banking Group*•Mind Gym*•Mondelez International*•New Charter Housing TrustGroup*

•Capgemini•Capital One•Danone•Danone Nutricia•Darlington Building Society•Dentsu Aegis Network•IBM UK•KPMG•Macquarie Group•Manchester Airport Group•RWE Npower•Tesco•The Crown Estate•United Utilities

Dairy Crest Rural Action AwardRecognises businesses that supportrural communities to maintain asustainable rural economy•Calor Gas*•E H Booth & Co*•Manchester Airport Group*•Wm Morrison Supermarkets*

Education AwardRecognises those building sustainablepartnerships with schools in the UKto raise aspirations of young peopleto enable them to build successfulworking lives•A.F. Blakemore & Son*•EDF Energy*•Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer*•The University of Manchester*•BAM Construction•EON•Esh Group•Hogan Lovells

•Inspired Change•KPMG•Manchester Airport Group•Nationwide Building Society•Pinsent Masons (Yorkshire &Humber)

•Pinsent Masons (WestMidlands)

•Slaughter and May•Telefónica UK (O2)•The Co-operative Group•UBS•Wates Construction Group

Inspiring Young Talent AwardRecognises businesses that addressyouth unemployment and the UKskills gap with youth-friendlyrecruitment practices, workexperience programmes or accessibleroutes to successful working livessuch as apprenticeships•Asda Stores*•Barclays*•EE*•KPMG*•Marks and Spencer*•Boots UK•Carillion Training Services•Freshfields Bruckhaus DeringerLLP

•Fujitsu•Gelder Group•Gus Robinson Developments•Jaguar Land Rover•Linklaters•Lloyds Banking Group•Manchester Airport Group•Mulberry Company (Design)•Norfolk and Norwich UniversityHospitals NHS Foundation Trust

•PD Ports Group•Seddon Construction•The Centre for Partnership•Whitbread•Willmott Dixon Partnerships

Work Inclusion AwardRecognises companies that supportpeople from disadvantaged groupsinto employment and/or improveskills for employment•The Co-operative Group*•Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer*

•ScottishPower*•Affinity Sutton•Cadwyn Housing Association•Carillion•Greggs•GSK•Keepmoat•L&Q•Sage

Bupa Workwell Engagement andWellbeing AwardRecognises those investing in theengagement and wellbeing of theiremployees•Dairy Crest*•East Coast Mainline*•EDF Energy*•Gentoo Group*•Hewlett-Packard*•Unipart Group*•Diageo•EE•Eriks UK•Southeastern Railway

Engaging Customers onSustainability AwardRecognises those that use marketingto inspire and enable people to livemore sustainable lifestyles•Anglian Water*•Thames Water*•Waitrose*

Sustainable Products and ServicesAwardRecognises those embeddingenvironmental sustainability into coreproducts or services, as well as theprocesses used to produce ordevelop them•Blakemore Logistics*•CFH Docmail*•Drax Group*•FM Conway*•Interface*•Lakes Free Range Egg Company*•Birmingham City University•Boots UK•Brother Industries (UK)•Lettuce Flowers•Nampak Plastics•NATS•Northumbrian Water Group•Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK)•Veolia

Responsible Business Awards inWalesRecognises businesses in Walesadopting best practice•ACT Training•Brother Industries (UK)•Cadwyn Housing Association•Carillion Civil Engineering•Dwr Cymru Welsh Water•Finance Wales•GD Environmental Services•Network Rail Cymru Wales•P&A Group•Porth Teigr•RCT Homes•Rhondda Housing Association•UPM Shotton•Wales & West Utilities

CommunityMark AwardRecognises leadership and excellencein community investment•Capital One UK•Siemens Industry – IndustrialAutomation, Drive Technologiesand Customer Service

•UBS•Willmott Dixon•Brentford Football Club•Heineken UK•Intu Properties•Jaguar Land Rover

•LSI Architects•The Midcounties Co-operative•Prudential UK & Europe

Arts & Business CorporateResponsibility AwardRecognises arts and businesscollaborations using culture to workwith communities•British Land & New DioramaTheatre

•DBS Law & City ofBirminghamSymphony Orchestra•Deutsche Bank & 15 UKUniversities

•Liverpool John Moores University& Liverpool PhilharmonicOrchestra•Southern Railway & SussexDowns College

Opportunity Now AwardsRecognises organisations creatinginclusive workplaces, where womenare able to progress and reach theirfull potential•Asda Stores•Atkins•CA Technologies•Deutsche Bank•Diageo•Eversheds•EY•Friends Life•Genesis Housing Association•Hogan Lovells•IBM United Kingdom•McKinsey & Company•Mitie•Morgan Stanley•National Grid•Norton Rose Fulbright•Obelisk•Procter & Gamble•PwC•Royal Air Force•Royal Bank of Scotland•Royal Mail•Sodexo•SThree•Unilever

Race for Opportunity AwardsRecognises those businesses tacklingthe barriers in the workplace facedby black people and those fromother ethnic minorities•Affinity Sutton•African & Caribbean Diversity•American Express•Barclays•BP•BT•Circle Housing Group•Cisco•Citi•Crown Prosecution Service•Eversheds•EY•Generating Genius•HM Revenue & Customs•Hogan Lovells•HSBC•Imperial College London•King’s College London•Morgan Stanley•National Grid•Nationwide Building Society•Queen Mary University of London•Rare•Runnymede•SEO London•Shell•The Civil Service•The Foreign & CommonwealthOffice

•The Institute of Education•University College London•University of Manchester

Big Ticks Companies – large and small – that can demonstrate they make a difference in society

Poor families in Derby heading totheir local food bank might besurprised to learn that the centreis supported by Rolls-Royce.

Apprentices from the engineer-ing firm have volunteered to hand out foodparcels at the Hope Centre food bank in thecity, and the apprentices are also tacklingthe food bank’s supply, storage and logisti-cal problems.

Rolls-Royce says the project’s benefits aremuch wider than making staff feel good bydonating time and expertise to others.“Since these people will become the leadersof our workforce, it’s important they knowmore about the local community and thechallenges that may affect team membersor their extended families,” says PaulBroadhead, head of community investmentand education outreach at the company.

Rolls-Royce is one of a growing numberof companies taking greater interest in thewelfare of the communities in which theyoperate. Many are reasoning that in orderfor their businesses to prosper as the UKemerges from recession, those communitiesneed support.

“In the past two years there has been alot more understanding,” says Bill Boler,director of physical regeneration at Busi-ness in the Community.

Lloyds Banking Group is another exam-ple. Graham Lindsey, director for responsi-ble business, says his company has come torecognise that “the prosperity of the vastnumber of local communities in which weoperate is inextricably linked to the pros-perity of our business”.

Lloyds has seconded about 50 of its staffto work in local communities under Busi-ness in the Community’s “business connec-tors” programme.

Secondees are placed in deprived commu-nities, where they are charged with thetask of strengthening relationships

between local businesses, charities andcommunity groups.

“When they came back they were buzzingwith ideas,” he says. The lessons theylearnt, such as the need to solve the “pov-erty premium” – in which low-income cus-tomers without a bank account face extracharges to pay bills – are at the centre ofthe company’s latest CSR strategy.

Meanwhile Timpson, the shoe repair andkey cutting company, has extended its pro-gramme of employing ex-offenders toinclude other groups who struggle in atough labour market, such as disabled peo-ple, the long-term unemployed and formermilitary personnel.

The latter group is increasing in numberas armed forces redundancies set in, saysDarren Burns, Timpson’s national recruit-ment ambassador.

“There’s a huge pool of untapped talent

out there,” he says. “Some people feel theyare thrown on the scrap heap in terms ofemployment. The loyalty, enthusiasm andproductivity we get from them . . . is goodfor business.”

But not all companies find communityrelations straightforward. J Sainsbury hitproblems in 2010 when its application foran alcohol licence at a Brighton store in thecity’s North Street was refused. The storewas in a “high alcohol impact” area of thecity according to the local authority –meaning alcohol consumption contributedto social and public health problems in thedistrict.

The retailer eventually opened its storewithout a licence. Since then, Sainsburyhas been involved in tackling alcohol-re-lated harm in the city. It has joined thelocal authority’s alcohol programme board,set up in 2010 to bring together leaders of

local organisations tackling local alcohol-related problems, such as health services,the police, probation services and retailers.

Members have discussed the possibilityof Sainsbury and other supermarketsrefraining from cheap promotions, andmoving the alcohol section to the back ofstores during street festivals and events.

Sainsbury says: “We are members ofboards such as this in several areas. Ithelps us. . . see how best to help.”

For Carillion, the construction company,working with communities presents differ-ent challenges.

“Increasingly, when we build something,we’re involved in managing it for the next30 years,” says David Picton, the company’schief sustainability officer. “So we take along-term approach to working with com-munities.

“Sometimes that’s challenging becausethe needs of an area can be so diverse thatyou think, where do we start?”

Some communities “imagine you’re onlyin it for the short term”, he says, addingthat the company has responded by devel-oping long-term “community needs plans”– a document setting out an assessment ofcommunity needs and a list of objectivesand targets for the company.

Data published last month show 72 percent of the company’s contracts included acommunity needs plan in 2013.

However, Mr Boler fears that too fewbusinesses – particularly in the develop-ment and regeneration sectors – see thevalue of working with communities in ameaningful way.

“Developers are starting to think abouthow they engage people . . . but too manystill see it as being linked to planningapproval,” he says. Progress will have beenmade, he argues, when more businessesregard community engagement as part oftheir mainstream work.

Local projects aim for mutual benefitsCommunities Businesses are supporting people living in the areas inwhich they operate, saysKayeWiggins

Residents of the picturesque Northumberlandmarket town of Morpeth were not impressedwhen Dransfield Properties, a retail developer,announced plans for a £52m project in 2006,writes Kaye Wiggins.“They thought we were going to ruin the

place,” says Mark Dransfield, managingdirector. “It involved national retailers, andpeople feared we’d disrupt local trade.”So the company embarked on a

programme of consultation with 12 interestgroups including Morpeth and DistrictChamber of Trade, the Morpeth Civic Societyand English Heritage. As a result, itabandoned plans to replace a historic façade,and controversial proposals by a previous

developer for a multistorey car park andapartments.When the Sanderson Arcade reached

planning committee stage, fewer than fiveobjections were received. The centre, whichopened in 2009 and was completed lastyear, has recorded a 20 per cent rise infootfall in the first six months of this yearcompared with the same period last year.The company manages its own centres

rather than outsourcing the task,and trains security guards to be“ambassadors”, giving directions to visitorsand offering advice on local places to visit.“Listening and being personable is what

makes it work,” Mr Dransfield says.

Case study Dransfield Properties

Talent tapped: Timpson, the key-cutting and shoe repair company, employs people often excluded from the labour market Charlie Bibby

Jaguar Land Rover: BITC Responsible Business of the Year 2013

12 FINANCIAL TIMES TUESDAY JULY 8 2014